


Summer Smile

by emmykay



Series: Boys of Summer [1]
Category: Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-06
Updated: 2014-08-06
Packaged: 2018-02-12 00:34:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2088984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmykay/pseuds/emmykay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>He smiled?</i>  Abe felt something shift and then twist under his sternum.  <i>That's the first time I've seen it. </i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Summer Smile

Mihashi's smile was as bright, happy, open and unaffected as the summer sky. 

_He smiled?_ Abe felt something shift and then twist under his sternum. _That's the first time I've seen it._

Abe considered. _Can that be?_ Then reconsidered. _Yes. It was._

When you work with somebody for 16 hours a day, and so much of that is watching and worrying over them, you learn their face. Abe knew Mihashi's face, and its myriad of expressions from panic to relaxation, concentration to concern, better than his own. 

But that smile. That was new.

When had this face, this boy, slipped behind his guard? Abe wasn't thinking about this at all, about the connection that could happen between them when they first contracted to play with each other. All he wanted was to make the calls, planning the game in his head, and Mihashi, well, Mihashi would take his calls and make them happen. That was all that was supposed to happen.

Sure, Abe had heard and read all about the mystical connection between a catcher and his pitcher, between teammates, the battery being the attacking cornerstone of the team in the field. He had believed it, once, in the way children believe in fairy tales. Then came Haruna, who had an arm like a lightning bolt with a temperament and unreliability to match. Haruna had seen to it that there would be nothing left for any new pitcher. Not from Abe Takaya. 

From then on, Abe's affinity for the factual turned into a mania for numbers. A person could depend on numbers; hours practiced and amount of repetitions completed, calories consumed, changes in weight and height - they all meant something. There was also the positive storm of actual game statistics; runs batted in, pitches made and what kind, types of calls made. You could protect yourself, ensure your results with numbers applied the right way. Before he knew it, there was nothing but a coolly calculating machine left in the space where that connection between players was supposed to be. Not that Haruna noticed. Or, soon enough, that Abe cared.

Abe had done his research, made his lists of pros and cons and then, after both Haruna and he had graduated, left his old team. Set off to find a new one, making sure not to pick the same school as Haruna. He had chosen Nishiura. Then, of all possible people in the word, into the playing field stumbled Mihashi. 

In the imaginary book of his life, Abe wondered what the various chapters would be labeled as; "Childhood," "Seniors League," and then "Mihashi." What a chapter that would be. Those two seasons with him, spring and summer, seemed as chock-full as years had been previously. Both for what Mihashi gave him; perfect aim, total obedience, recognition of his abilities, a willingness to work which might, might, might surpass even his own, and what Mihashi had taken away; whatever control he had over his temper or his volume, belief in his own personal infallibility, peace of mind.

He had liked making all the decisions, unchallenged, and if that meant being completely responsible for Mihashi, so be it. Yet without him knowing, it had fed the worst parts of his personality, like a worm in a bad apple. Then he had gotten injured. Like a fool. 

Abe had had a lot of time to think about it while watching, heartsick, as Mihashi and the rest of the team picked up the pieces and finished the game as best they could. He knew much of it was his fault that the team had been unprepared for his absence in the field.

Then he and Mihashi had talked. They understood each other, finally. Mihashi had smiled at him. A boy with no brains, poor verbal skills, the hair of a newly-hatched duckling and no self-confidence who had been through so much (some of it through Abe's own actions) - this boy had looked at him and was still able to smile. A smile like the promise of a clear summer's day. That smile lifted him, steadied him, gave him warmth deep in his chest. They were still a team, though imperfect. They would work to become an even better team. One that shared responsibility, that talked to and relied upon each other.

Together, in a new chapter that might be labeled "Koshien Championship," they would make their dreams come true.

**Author's Note:**

> Just finished Season 2 and I am ~full of feelings~ about these two!


End file.
